AA. 199

The fifth and final sector of the Cleansing brought Team Forge back to civilization. The architecture looked more European than Indian and carried Arabic influences. The buildings also carried scorch marks and embellishments that appeared made of hardened flesh or cooled magma. Luminous flora had reclaimed a bulk of the city, making sections look like a rainforest. Then the Void had twisted it, turning some into ugly fleshy structures, while others looked like statues of crystal or metal. Nil didn't like their energy signatures and wasn't keen on investigating them up close.

From what Nil had read about Eternum, the buildings were built by the last great civilization that ruled the planet before the Scourge infiltrated and invaded them, turning an almost Control World into one of their seats of power. Then, they got too greedy and tried to rapidly grow its strength and influence. That's when the Void found them, devouring most and forcing the rest to flee. Apparently, they hadn't yet completed their terraforming magic. A permanent cloud cover kept the sun at bay, making it comfortable for the Scourge and ensuring allied and enslaved Cursed Ones didn't perish. Darkening the world, growing favorable vegetation, and shaping the land should've been next on the agenda. Fortunately for the Control Worlds, the corruption-bringers failed to finish their work.

All fourth sectors have closed. Seven teams remain.

The notification came after the team had spent an entire hour looking for points and found only one. They had destroyed a couple of scuttler hives and eliminated several Cursed Ones—Void-controlled and free—but the arena construct seemed significantly less generous than before.

“Do you think we're all in the same sector or divided into two?” Selia asked, wiping sludge from her weapon. Old, worn flags and banners still littered the city. Some were moldy and rotting. Others seemed alchemically treated and intact. 

“Probably the latter,” Zora answered. “It's possible that we're split between two sectors but might not be even. The arena construct seems focused on purging the Void and corruption first and the competition second. The uneven distribution between sectors, the odd number of teams allowed through, and the Cleansing Pods attached to our power seeds are evidence of that.

“As far as I know, the last wasn't a thing in previous years. We haven't faced this issue thus far because we're so far ahead of everyone else, but it seems point sources are also scarcer to encourage teams to clash. It wants us to kill each other so the power seeds reinforce the pods.”

“I don't know whether that's ingenious or diabolical,” Selia stated.

“It could be both,” Shawn mumbled, seeming unwilling to participate in the conversation. “The druids were involved in the creation of the intelligence behind the arena constructs. They instilled it with a deep fear and hatred for the Void. I wouldn't be surprised if purging all presence from the multiverse was set as a higher priority than dealing with the Cursed Ones.”

Nil frowned. “Is it possible that the intelligence let the Scourge into Apocalypse Arena so that more bodies could throw at the Void? It might be the reason why this year, three of their worlds were allowed to participate instead of just two.”

Shawn thoughtfully glanced at a hard light structure in the distance. The sector seemed to have two entry gates. A skirmish had broken out around it. “I didn't think to look at it that way. Why else would there be seven teams left this late in the competition? The intelligence might deem the Scourge more driven and willing to take risks and therefore better weapons against the Voids.”

“That's all we are at the end of the day.” Selia sighed. “Living weapons.”

The team carried on toward the beacon, scanning for options.

Nil took the opportunity to absorb ambient energies and cultivate. My Body Is My Domain significantly increased Nil’s awareness of everything going on inside of his body. Nil didn’t quite understand what to do with the biological element or what was safe to influence. However, the far more intimate connection to his core and energy than before. Nil also sensed concepts he couldn’t articulate. However, he knew that his Spark was closing in on natural growth to the next rank. It was why he hadn’t invested any Schema tokens in it. Might wasn’t far behind, and somehow, he understood how to circulate the Source through himself to overcome the boundary.

The more time Nil spent with the ability, the more apparent its full potential became. It was far more than a mere defensive power. He understood the power seed much better, and when combined with One With The Source, it would accelerate his progress toward mastering the techniques in Watcher’s scroll. Replicating Iris’s Source arms—or a dumbed-down version of them—also felt within reach.

Most people require several years to get from Silver to Gold. Adrian Wildshape Wilson was amongst the first to become a Summoned, and despite his rapid ascent, he spent almost half a decade grinding up his ability ranks and finding a Gold Ascension Token. As far as NIl knew, every resident of his world had achieved ascension with a token. He was probably the first. Nil didn’t have full control of his body at the time, and his senses weren’t as acute, so he wasn’t sure how to do the same again. However, he was confident that his new abilities would help him find a way.

As everyone recovered their energy following another hive take down and their second point, Nil played with his newest toy. The Chaos tail was currently smooth and textureless. It looked like an amphibian’s appendage but made of hardened crimson light. He added tiny spikes along the spine and banded rows of ridges. He considered turning the end into a spike or blade but then decided against it. He intended to use the appendage for more than just attacking. He kept the texture to create a more abrasive surface for smashing opponents but also wanted the option of carrying or capturing people.

Best to make the base construct neutral and then shape additions to suit the current need.

Much like with the knuckle daggers and three-finger blades, Nil needed a stable image that would live in his memory and could easily be called forth. More detail and variation made the task a challenge and slowed down the creation of a stable shape. Before gaining the new abilities, he required a second or two to manifest his regular constructs, and the time was a near eternity in battle. He usually needed to find an opening before creating or changing energy weapons. Things were considerably swifter now, and he felt comfortable moving on to more complex constructs.

Nil ended up modeling the appendage on art involving dragons he had encountered in Ashe Fall. It felt fitting since his spirit companion was a drakeling. Next, Nil began his work on the arms. The rough version he had somehow manifested while under the Glimmer’s possession appeared skeletal, but it wasn’t what Nil intended. 

Initially, he attempted to make an exact replica of Iris’s technique. But then he realized that the manipulation demands were far too high. Her constructs floated around her body instead of growing out of them. Either she controlled each limb or pair individually, or her family discovered a method of broadcasting synaptic signals to them. Since they were not directly connected to her body, the constructs enjoyed far more freedom of movement and flexibility.

Meanwhile, Nil had to establish a direct link between his nervous system and the constructs. In order to retain some freedom, he wanted arms with ball and socket joints instead of the traditional hinges like elbows and knees. It would likely take a fair bit of time to get used to them, but he liked the idea. The concept drawings had a robotic look and reminded Nil of his time as a Mechanical Engineering student. 

Now that he was Silver Realm, Nil would also gain access to more sections of the Nexus Market and Moon Rabbit Emporium. He hoped to find more techniques that would be compatible with the Source. Lightning and cold were already excellent additions. He was sure he could develop them into fire, but the direction felt unnecessary. Heat also felt counter-intuitive and a probable danger to Meatball. He was sure the shop displays would give him ideas for other developments. The Source was versatile and the parent to Qi and magic, after all.

Nil had long accepted the fact that he’d never achieve anything as extraordinary as pulling fantastical magic weapons out of a legendary vault, phasing through objects, or bending space with his barriers. However, there was a lot he could achieve as a cultivator, and he looked forward to it. All of his companions had stricter limitations to the type of techniques they could learn and develop. The types of energies they contained and manipulated were far more specialized and limited in capability. Nil might’ve started weaker and more limited, but now he had greater freedom and versatility than anyone he knew.

After losing the tournament and Chase, Nil had grown resentful of Watcher for a while. The entity insisted he brush up on the fundamentals and figure things out himself. He wanted Nil to master the Source and embrace it. The scroll highlighted how incredible the applications could be, but Nil’s sensory abilities and control were lacking. Getting to the point using traditional cultivator methods would’ve taken him far more time than he had. It was why Watcher’s foresight powers said his chances of making it to the Cleansing were low or non-existent.

In the end, it was Selia’s stolen technique that changed everything for him. He had Lightning Wrapping to thank for his victory in the Hunt. 

I would’ve never pulled it off if not for Watcher’s scroll. 

Connecting the constructs to his nervous system gave Nil limitless options. Now, he had the energy to spare and experiment. He couldn’t wait to get into it and spend some time experimenting before the Nexus sent him on another mammoth task. The Forge has near-endless energy. Nil hoped to take advantage of it, cultivate, grow, and become more terrifying than the Glimmer made him out to be. 

While training, Nil had made a list of people he needed to surpass and be able to defeat. It started with Pietro. Fighting the man almost killed Nil, but he won in the end. Then came Lucy, who felt undefeatable but now no longer felt like a challenge. Shawn was his first rival, and the Glimmer had shown Nil that Shieldmaster didn’t stand a chance against the Chaos constructs. He had also overcome the first man to ever defeat him—Burning Sands. 

Now, Nil set his sights on Adrian Wildshape Wilson. The man was a cultivator, possessed an unknown soul armor or weapon, and his power seed let him replicate the body parts of alien creatures, granting him incredible offense, defense, or both. He often mimicked their supernatural abilities, too. Adrian first came into the spotlight during a giant group event that involved the Scourge. He turned his head into that of a dragon and melted several opponents with liquid fire before sprouting wings and flying over the battlefield. The man had also done similar acts with frost, acid, and even used moves that were impossible to separate from magic. Nil needed to get powerful and adaptable enough to overcome such a foe. It was the only way he could guarantee his people’s safety on Earth.